SUNRISE, Fla. — When teams go looking for postseason reinforcements at the trade deadline in any sport, intangibles are often high on the wish list. Grizzled veterans, players with previous championships and dyed-in-the-wool leaders are what win games, series and championships, conventional wisdom says.
But if you’re the Carolina Hurricanes, your “it” factor is coming from players who maybe don’t even know what “it” is yet.
“It’s a tough time of the year to come in as a rookie and play minutes like that,” Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said of the four first-year players in Carolina’s lineup Monday when the team fended off elimination with a 3-0 win in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final against the Florida Panthers.
Throughout the season, rookie Jackson Blake has made the transition from being a Hobey Baker Award finalist as one of the nation’s top collegiate players a year ago to an impact player in his first professional season.
The shifty winger, the son of former MNHL 40-goal scorer Jason Blake, scored 17 goals in the regular season and has three more in his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Defenseman Scott Morrow, also in Year 1 of what promises to be a long, productive NHL career, spent much of the year in the American Hockey League but was forced into action this postseason when Jalen Chatfield suffered an injury in Carolina’s second round series against the Washington Capitals.
Alexander Nikshin, the long-awaited defensive prospect who signed with the Hurricanes and came across the pond just over a month ago when his KHL season ended in Russia, made his NHL debut in Game 5 of that Capitals series, an introduction to the NHL Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour called “rough.”
But when Sean Walker joined Chatfield among injured Carolina defensemen, Brind’Amour had little choice but to go back to Nikshin, who the coach said has faced an uphill climb in getting acclimated with the Hurricanes due to a language barrier and the lack of practices the team holds during the postseason.
On Monday, Nikishin continued to climb that hill, growing more effective with each shift as the coaching staff became more comfortable with putting him in critical situations — both out of confidence and necessity.
That included on the penalty kill, on which the Hurricanes went 4 for 4 in Game 4 despite being without Chatfield, who has played a major role on the league’s best PK, and Walker, the usual fill-in when Carolina needs another defenseman to step in while shorthanded.
Nikishin logged nearly 19 minutes, including 72 seconds on the penalty kill, and had five hits for the second consecutive game since returning to the lineup.
“Obviously, he’s seizing the moment right now,” Brind’Amour said.
There was no moment bigger than the play he and the Hurricanes’ fourth rookie, Logan Stankoven, connected on in the second period.
With the score 0-0 and Carolina looking to claim its first lead in the series, Nikishin quickly backhanded a pass in the neutral zone to a streaking Stankoven on the left side of the ice. Stankoven closed on the Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky and snapped a shot over the Florida goalie’s right shoulder to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead they never relinquished.
“Just not looking like rookies,” Brind’Amour said of Stankoven and Nikishin. “I mean, (Stankoven) had a little more experience. He’s been through this a little bit. With Nikishin, that has been pretty impressive, especially the amount of minutes that (he’s) getting kind of forced to play. Both of those guys were excellent tonight.”
Brind’Amour praised Nikishin’s poise, saying the Russian was “unfazed” by the moment.
“I just like that he’s not rattled,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s just going out there playing. Sometimes the young kids that come over or come in, even rookies, they don’t realize the moment, like how big it is — just playing hockey.”
Stankoven may be a rookie, but he’s been through this before. Acquired from Dallas at the trade deadline, the “not afraid” diminutive forward played in the Western Conference final with the Stars last season. This year, he has five playoff goals and has been Carolina’s best forward in the series against the Panthers.
“He’s got a lot of fight in this game, and he doesn’t quit on any pucks,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said after Game 4. “He’s tenacious, and he’s a Hurricane, through and through.”
Instead of the veterans leading the charge as Carolina took the first step in avoiding a sweep and trying to claw back into the final four series, it’s the Hurricanes’ rookies who are making the biggest difference.
Slavin said Nikishin gave a brief speech in “a little English” after getting his first NHL point and helping Carolina keep its season alive.
“‘Good game. Step by step. Good job,’” Slavin said. “That’s all it was.”
Sometimes, that’s all you need.
